I had a question regarding your thoughts on when to give my almost 31/2 yr old daughter the MMR shot? I have delayed and separated all her previous shots and she is up to date on all of them except the MMR and CPox, and the last one she had was over a yr ago. I am now nervously thinking about giving her the MMR. I heard that they will soon be combining and only offering the MMR and CPox together and I definitely dont want her to have that combo. I am not too concerned about the CPox now, but wonder if I should consider giving her the 1st MMR now and the 2nd when she is about 5-51/2 and somewhere in between give her the CPox one? My daugther is healthy, no known allergies, had a history of ear infections and reflux and is a picky eater and terrible sleeper-although a lot better. She is "spirited", smart, sensitive and quirky. We had her tested through EI for Sensory and she did not qualify. In your opinion, is now a good time or should we wait longer? I just keep hearing measles coming back around, we have her in playgroups-not preschool yet and live in NY where they require her to have the 2 MMR's by kindergarten. I dont want to give her the 2 MMR's too close together. When do you give your patients their 1st MMR and what do you recommend for us? Thank you so much!!

I give only 1 MMR, around age 4 or 5. If you have to give two, then I'd do one now, Cpox in a year, and a second MMR a year after that. That spaces them all out.

The other option is that in New York you CAN claim religious exemption, even if you've had vaccines. You could do one MMR when she turns 4 and then "get religious" and not do more. One MMR dose gives 95% protection, so a second is rarely needed.